Mozilla's major new ally will sell its Klif phone and six months' network service in 13 countries in Africa and the Middle East. Orange likes Firefox OS's inexpensive hardware requirements and expects to sell millions.
By bundling a Firefox OS phone called the Klif with six months of data and voice service, French carrier Orange hopes to bring smartphones to millions of Africans who today can afford only plain old feature phones.
The Klif, announced at the Mobile World Congress show here, move is a ringing endorsement of Mozilla's Firefox OS plan, which aims to break down some of the barriers in the mobile market by spreading its browser-based operating system. Mozilla concluded that the market most vulnerable to attack is a super low-budget category in developing nations, where Google's Android operating system isn't an option because it requires more powerful, expensive hardware.
"We will address this part of the population who still don't have access to the Internet," said Yves Maitre, Orange's executive vice president of connected objects and partnerships. "In this part of the world, the smartphone penetration is 11 percent. In sub-Saharan countries, it's around 5 percent."
Smartphones have swept the world, providing new ways for people to communicate, share photos, purchase products, play games, watch video and learn what's going on. But the novelty has worn off in wealthier countries, where smartphone market is relatively saturated. Developing countries, in contrast, are ripe for growth.
Source:cnet.com
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